In this episode of Centering Health Equity , our distinguished guests Dr. Joseph Ravenell and Peter Njongwe explore how trained barbers can help promote blood pressure screening, encourage preventive care, and connect community members to health services and how community-based partnerships can help advance health equity. Healthcare doesn’t always have to begin in a clinic. Sometimes, it begins with a trusted relationship in a familiar community space.
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About Our Guests
Joseph Ravenell, MD
Joseph Ravenell, MD is Professor of Population Health and Medicine with Tenure, and Associate Dean for Professional Development at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He is a primary care physician and health equity research scientist Dr. Ravenell has led multiple federally-funded trials to test community-based strategies to improve colon cancer screening and cardiovascular disease prevention among Black men throughout New York City and beyond. This work has engaged a community-based research network of over 200 community-based sites including churches, barbershops, mosques and social service agencies, reaching over 20,000 New Yorkers. Dr. Ravenell’s community-engaged work was the subject of an invited TED talk which has received over 1 million views. Dr. Ravenell continually cultivates a holistic approach to promoting health equity through research, scholarship and mentorship.
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Peter Njongwe
Peter Njongwe is a healthcare innovator, product strategist, and tech entrepreneur with a strong background in software engineering and business scalability. He is the Founder and CEO of Oben Health, where he works to transform care delivery by meeting patients where they are—building community-based care infrastructure that connects individuals to early prevention, screenings, and health navigation.
Prior to founding Oben Health, Peter served as an Executive in Residence (EIR) at Connection Silicon Valley, where he spearheaded programs, mentorship, and strategic growth initiatives to help Canadian startups gain visibility and scale within the Silicon Valley ecosystem.
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